31 May Kongamano La Mapinduzi May 2025 Circular
Content
- Monthly Commentaries
- Current Issue Political Analysis
- Historical Issue Political Analysis
- May Organizing Call
- May Commentaries
#AtwoliRetire
Nothing beats organic, citizen led, people’s initiatives. The 2025 Finance Bill App ‘civicemail.netlify.app’ created by Rose Njeri, and the campaign #AtwoliRetire ignited by Comrade Hanifa Farsafi, are an excellent demonstration of the ‘exercising’ of sovereign power of the Kenyan people, that is guaranteed in the Kenyan constitution. Such citizen-led direct intervention against the endemic and systemic rot in Kenya’s public institutions and processes, and that centers the mobilization of the masses for collective action, is what Kenya needs. This type of resistance is what has shaped the evolving history of our struggle against Kenya’s neo-colonial regimes and puppets. Such strategic offensives as #AtwoliRetire offers a space to analyze Atwoli’s shameless opulence, his type of trade union leadership against the heart rending sacrifices of such trade unionists as Comrade Makhan Singh, that Kenya has produced.
Government Seal
There are criminals in Kamiti Prison for forging signatures or impersonating public officials. For their crimes, they are punished with incarceration, they are deemed unfit to be left roaming around, taking the names or identities of others at will. Imagine if you could be anything and everything, is that kind of power even good for a sane human being? Now, petty criminals who could not bribe the arresting officer (or the investigating officer, or the judge) aside, what do we do with a psychopath that impersonates the whole nation? It would be a crime to send such a criminal to exist in the comfort of human connection, among other criminals whose only crime is impersonating an individual or an organization. When you, by force, ‘obtain’ the government seal, and hold it hostage at Statehouse, you become god. And impish gods have the same ending.
Forest Land
The Kenya Land Freedom Army did not wage war against the British, so that land ownership could be the preserve of Ruto and his friends. When the white man came, land was sacred. All the spaces that the white man put up his churches and his homes were freely given by the natives. Land was not something to be transactional about, it was a human necessity like food, and so it was collectively owned and shared. Just because a stretch of land looks like a forest, doesn’t mean it has no owners, or that by being idle forest land, it is a waste of money. Forest land is not about capital; it’s about the humans who interact with it. You can not cut off the little (almost negligible) remaining forest and build hotels to make money with them. There are plenty of good ideas to make money that should not involve cutting a single tree, disturbing virgin ecosystems. Even if it were the pope and all the saints combined who wanted Kenya’s virgin forests, the answer would still no. How much less, surrendering it to a criminal. Anyways, what of the vibrations of the forest?
Affordable Housing
Ruto’s affordable housing scheme is a scam. You can not purport to build houses for people that do not exist. Without a register of slum residents, how is the Ruto housing scheme going to guarantee that only residents of Mukuru or Mathare slum occupy the houses after completion? Some of the houses were recently completed in Mukuru slum, the beneficiaries were all rogue businessmen, who want nothing to do with a bedsitter home other than speculation. The woman chosen to represent Mukuru slum residents receiving the affordable housing units, was none other than the women who received rural electrification in rural Kenya, a serial photographed beneficiary of all Ruto’s projects. This was not carelessness on the part of the despots PR, it was simply a signal to the monied and unscrupulous, that bids are now open for the corrupt acquisition of the houses meant for Kenya’s impoverished citizens. The only remedy for the affordable housing mess is ‘occupation without compensation’, the slum residents marching and taking what is theirs, what was built with taxes.
#NationalPreyingDay
That the hyenas would gather to pray, before their meal of an innocent lamb, is not as natural as hyenas gathering to prey on a weak lamb. There is no mercy in the hunt, when the hunter is as organized and as ruthless as Ruto, and the victims are as the GenZ movement is at the moment. There is nothing sacred in the hands of a despotic regime, there is no heritage worth preserving, when a regime is stuck on auto-collect. Not the most populous religion or the most sacred of places of worship, that hasn’t been desecrated by the same hands that are abducting, torturing and killing Kenyan children. So, a little show of piety in front of cameras, complete with a grifting preacher is a small sin to them. For the whole mafioso ruling class with matching clownery, sacrilege is the smallest of insolence that Ruto and his ilk allow themselves to exhibit. It can not go without observing that any religious institution associating with Ruto is criminal. Any church offering a platform to Rutos regime is complicit in the abduction, torture and killing of children.
Africa Liberation Day
Comrade Ngugi wa Thiong’o, may he rest in power, warned us of the dangers of not decolonizing our minds. After centuries of slavery, colonization and neo-colonization, the struggle for the total liberation of the black man and the oppressed of the world, continues. The resistance comes natural, it is the organization and coordination of this resistance that we must remain vigilant about. This year Africa Liberation Day organized by grassroots organizations and left leaning political movements offers a signpost of where we have been as a continent, and where we can go, if we dared to imagine. This year’s African Liberation Day comes in the wake of the revolutionary spirit being fanned in the Sahel region of Africa, a sign of what is possible, a call to action for all revolutionaries across Africa and diaspora. The Pan-African offensive against neo-colonial and imperialist forces remains the most promising roadmap, to the total liberation of the African continent, and its people and resources.
- Current Political Analysis
A Region Betrayed: Condemning the Abduction and Torture of Kenyan and Ugandan Activists by Tanzanian Authorities
In a chilling reminder of how far East Africa has descended into tyranny, two activists – Agather Atuhaire and Boniface Mwangi, were recently abducted and tortured by Tanzanian authorities. These comrades had lawfully crossed into Tanzania to observe a court proceeding, standing in solidarity with a fellow activist and opposition leader Tundu Lissu, whose voice has long rattled the foundations of the repressive Tanzania regime. Their presence was peaceful, legal, and grounded in the historic spirit of regional solidarity, Jumuiya.
This moment marks a devastating turn for East Africa. It is Tanzania, after all, that once opened its borders to Kenyan freedom fighters fleeing Moi’s dictatorship. It is Tanzania that once hosted liberation movements and stood firmly against oppression. That such a nation has become the site of cross-border political persecution is a betrayal of its own revolutionary past. A betrayal of Comrade Julius Nyerere.
But this is not an isolated event. It is the latest chapter in a grim regional pattern. In Kenya, 2024 saw the abduction, torture, and even murder of GenZ protesters, for simply demanding justice and good governance. Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was unlawfully abducted from Kenyan soil and rendered back to Uganda, where he now languishes under the weight of a kangaroo court. And now, activists who dared to witness another Kangaroo court session are subjected to torture chambers in Tanzania.
These are not coincidences. They are evidence of a total collapse of the rule of law and the systematic erosion of human rights across East Africa. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are degenerating into full-blown fascist states, where the presidents rule not with consent, but through fear, surveillance, and violent suppression.
This collapse is not purely domestic, it is backed and funded by global neo-colonial interests. The United States, in its hunger for extractive rights and regional military outposts, continues to prop up dictators like Museveni, Suluhu, and Ruto. For imperial powers, loyalty in resource access and military cooperation outweigh the lives, rights, and aspirations of African citizens.
These presidents have not only abandoned the people—they have betrayed the Pan-African dream. The spirit of Nyerere has been replaced with the paranoia of the police state. The courage of the Mau Mau and the Haitian revolutionaries has been buried under debt traps and foreign-led development that benefits only the comprador. Instead of building on the foundation laid by the likes of Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, and Kwame Nkrumah, our so-called leaders now trample on it.
We must not sit idle. Now more than ever, we must integrate political education into every corner of our lives, from our schools to our social media routine, from our churches to our marketplaces. We must rebuild communities of resistance, ones rooted in truth, solidarity, and revolutionary purpose.
Let the abduction of our comrades be a wake-up call. Let it radicalize our commitment. Let it remind us that freedom is not granted by presidents, it is taken by the people. And until every East African citizen can walk freely, speak boldly, and organize without fear, our work is not done. Grassroots political movements like Kongamano La Mapinduzi offer a roadmap that is radical, Pan-African, and people-centered.
Power to the people. Long live Pan-African solidarity.
- Historical Political Analysis
The Tyranny of Violence: How Despotic Regimes Sustain Power Through Coercion
Violence, as a means of political control, has been a recurrent theme in history. Political thinkers like Hannah Arendt have deeply examined its nature and function. In her seminal work, On Violence, Arendt argued that violence, while instrumental and effective in achieving immediate objectives, lacks the capacity to create legitimacy. “Power and violence are opposites,” she wrote, emphasizing that while power stems from collective agreement and legitimacy, violence signals the absence of consent and the fragility of authority.
Other thinkers, such as Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth, observed violence from the perspective of the colonized, seeing it as both a tool of oppression and a potential means of reclaiming autonomy. Through these lenses, it becomes evident that violence, when employed by dictatorial regimes, is a double-edged sword: a tool for control, yet a symptom of underlying instability.
The Political Reasoning Behind Violence
Dictatorial regimes often rely on violence to silence dissent, deter opposition, and project an image of unchallengeable authority. The political reasoning behind this is clear: fear is an efficient suppressor of resistance. By eliminating dissidents or intimidating masses, regimes can maintain a façade of order and compliance. Political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli’s advice in The Prince reflects this logic: “It is much safer to be feared than loved.”
In the short term, violence can be remarkably effective. Mass arrests, extrajudicial killings, and state-sponsored terror create an atmosphere of dread that inhibits organized resistance. However, in the long term, violence erodes the social fabric and undermines the regime’s legitimacy. The historian Timothy Snyder, in On Tyranny, asserts that violent regimes often sow the seeds of their own downfall by fostering resentment and resistance among the oppressed.
Impact on Democracy and Institutions
The use of violence as a political tool directly threatens democracy and its institutions. Democratic systems are built on the principles of dialogue, rule of law, and the protection of civil liberties. When violence becomes a method of governance, it corrodes these foundations. Institutions designed to safeguard democracy, such as independent judiciaries and free media, are often the first to be targeted.
For example, during Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in Chile, systematic violence and suppression dismantled democratic structures, leaving a legacy of fear and weakened institutions that took decades to rebuild. Similarly, in modern authoritarian regimes, the use of violence has often coincided with the subversion of electoral systems, the curtailment of freedoms, and the dissolution of checks and balances..
Psychological and Emotional Impact
The psychological consequences of political violence are profound, both for the individual and the collective. At an individual level, citizens often experience fear, anxiety, and trauma. The pervasive sense of insecurity undermines trust in both the state and one another, leading to a fragmented and disempowered populace.
On a collective level, violence can instill a culture of silence and complicity. Over time, societal norms may shift to accommodate the presence of violence, creating an environment where dissent is stigmatized or perceived as futile. This phenomenon was evident during Stalin’s purges in the Soviet Union, where fear permeated every layer of society, forcing individuals into compliance or complicity.
Renowned psychologist Judith Herman, in her work on trauma, highlights how systemic violence affects not only the victims but also the perpetrators and bystanders, leading to cycles of dehumanization and mistrust. The collective trauma can linger for generations, impeding societal healing and progress.
Overcoming the Monopoly on Violence
Despite its grip, history has shown that even the most violent regimes can be overcome. Nonviolent resistance, as championed by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., has been a powerful counterforce to oppressive regimes. Gandhi’s strategy of satyagraha (truth force) demonstrated how organized, nonviolent civil disobedience could undermine the moral and political foundations of colonial rule in India.
Similarly, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States achieved significant milestones by leveraging nonviolent protests, boycotts, and legal challenges. These movements underscore the potential of collective action, moral authority, and international solidarity to confront and dismantle regimes that rely on violence.
Another method has been the strategic use of international pressure. Diplomatic isolation and global advocacy have often constrained violent regimes.
- Political Organizing
June 25th 2025 – This will be the beginning of daily protests until Ruto steps down. “you can’t kill us and lead us”. Period. #RutoMustGo